Transport system for rolling mills and the like



May 14, 1968 w. BONHOFF ETAL 3,382,954

TRANSPORT SYSTEM FOR ROLLING MILLS AND THE LIKE Filed Dec. 22, 1965 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 .l'm emans Willi Bonhoff Ernsf L. Ullmann Attorney 3 4 llwiiimii v M n T WWW i y 14, 1963 w. BONHOFF ETAL 3,382,964

TRANSPORT SYSTEM FOR ROLLING MILLS AND THE LIKE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Dec. 22, 1965 Cu r a a HM 0/ s F hm w. e R.|. w /m 1 Hi. mm 5 5 W5 i L I 5 Y mmwflmmwmm H B 7 i 666 6 6 MAW 7H; 7w; 7 7 I J 5. :A 43 43 .8

United States Patent Claims. (a. 198-33) Our present invention relates to a transport system for rolling mills and the like whereby a plate, block, bloom, billet or ingot of a metal such as steel is repeatedly passed between a pair of working rolls for compression to reduce the cross section of the body, elongate it and/or impart a desired profile to the finished shape. More particularly, this invent-ion relates to an improved transport-roller arrangement by means of which the workpiece can be reciprocated toward and away from the working rolls.

It is known in rolling mills of this character to provide a roller conveyor with powered transport rollers which are rotatable about axes transverse to the direction of displacement of the ingot or billet (e.g. generally horizontal axes) for displacing the workpiece when it rests upon the rollers. The drive means for the transport rollers can be reversibly operable in order to displace the workpiece toward and away from the working rolls or another processing station. It has been the practice, heretofore, in the rolling or transport of plate-like workpieces, to shape the rollers in such manner as to enable them to impart to the plate-like bodies a rotation about a substantially vertical axis by means of which the body can be reversed in position prior to its feed between the working rolls; when ingots or blocks are processed, means can be provided for turning the block on its side or otherwise reorienting the block before it is fed again between the working rolls. Thus the means for reorienting latelike work-pieces, which cannot readily be flipped over or onto a side, can include arrays of frustoconical transport rollers interleaved along the transport path and rotatable in opposite senses so that the opposite edges of a sheet are engaged by respective sets of rollers and driven thereby in opposite directions. It has been found, in practice, that frustoconical rollers are disadvantageous for the conveying or transport of ingots or other blocklike bodies and rapidly deteriorate when used for the rolling of workpieces of the latter type.

It is the principal object of the present invention, therefore, to provide an improved transport system for rolling mills and the like whereby both block-like and plate-like bodies can be transferred along a transport path and platelike bodies can be rotated about generally vertical axes without difficulty.

A further object of this invention is to provide a trans port system for rolling mills and the like which eliminates the need for rollers of special configuration and which is substantially more efficient and versatile than those provided heretofore.

These objects and others which will become apparent hereinafter are attained, in accordance with our present invention, in a transport system which comprises a succession of transport rollers with generally parallel axes and drive means for rotating the rollers alternately in opposite senses, means being provided for pivoting the cylindrical rollers at their longitudinal axes for swinging movement about respective axes perpendicular thereto and parallel to the transport path. Adjacent rollers are so pivoted at one of their opposing extremities while the other extremity is provided with means for elevating that extremity to slope the alternating rollers in opposite di- 3,332,964 Patented May 14, M68

rections with respect to their normal horizontal plane and thereby permit engagement of the two arrays of rollers with respective opposite edges of a plate-like workpiece. Thus, alternate rollers along the transport path can be selectively displaced in the same or opposite senses and are swingable about respective pivotal axes at their opposite ends. We have found that such an arrangement permits, in the lowered position of the vertically shiftable extremities of the transport rollers corresponding to a condition of the transport system in which all of the longitudinal axes of the rollers are substantially coplanar and horizontal, the rollers to be concurrently displaced in the same sense for reciprocating, i.e. advancing or retracting a block-like workpiece without difficulty.

When the opposing extremities of alternate rollers are raised by the actuating device, the rollers can be driven in the same sense for similar advance or retraction of plate-like workpieces by engagement with the edges of the body parallel to the direction of displacement thereof for corresponding advance or retraction of the body. When alternate rollers so positioned are driven in opposite senses, the plate-like workpiece is swung about a generally vertical axis.

According to a more specific feature of this invention, the pivotal means for each of the rollers is formed by a self-aligning (pendulum) bearing disposed at a fixed location at this extremity of each roller while the other extremity is journaled in a vertically movable self-aligning or pendulum-bearing whose bearing housing is elevatable by the actuating means. The drive means for the rollers preferably are connected with the axles thereof at the vertically fixed pivot bearings, preferably through the intermediary of universal join-ts or similar means, The actuating means can be a hydraulic piston-and-cylinder arrangement with the elevatable bearings being mechanically or hydraulically coupled together in the respective arrays for simultaneous actuation. A common hydraulic drive for each array is preferred since it affords excellent control and effectiveness. When the actuatable bearings of each array are coupled together mechanically, the eevat-ing means can include levers, eccentrics and the like and a common frame can be provided for the actuatable bearings of each array upon which the elevating means can act. In the latter case, only a single elevating mechanism is required for each array. Advantageously, the elevating means includes stop means in the form of abutments for the extreme vertical positions of the elevata-ble bearings thereby ensuring that the rollers of each array are substantially coplanar in their elevated and rolled positions.

Furthermore, the rollers driven in the same sense of each array can have a common drive source or individual drives; when a single drive is provided for all of the rollers of a respective array, a mechanical transmission means for distributing the driving power (e.g. a gear transmission) thereby effecting and saving in the number of motors required and ensuring a good distribution of the load upon the drive elements.

The above and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more readily apparent from the following description. reference being made to the accompanying drawing in which:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a portion of a transport system in accordance with the present invention, partly broken away;

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken generally along the line ll-II of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken generally along the line III-III of FIG. 1;

PEG. 3A and FIG. 3B are detail views of the bearings at the ends of the rollers;

FIG. 4 is a diagrammatic plan view of a system in which the rollers have individual drives disposed at one side of the transport system;

FIG. 5 is a similar view wherein respective drive means are provided for each array; and

FIG. 6 diagrammatically illustrates a further modification of the transport system in plan view.

In FIGS. l3, 3A and 38, we show a transport system which comprises two interleaved arrays of transport rollers 1 and 2, respectively, with the rollers 1 and 2 of the array longitudinally spaced apart and alternating along the transport path. The rollers, in the unactuated position of the apparatus, lie in a common horizontal plane and are mutually parallel.

Each of the rollers 1 and 2 is generally cylindrical and provided with the usual tapered extremities which converge to the axle portions 16, 17 of the roller. The axle portions 16 and 17 of each roller are journaied in Self-aligning bearings which permit angular displacement of the respective extremity along an axis generally designated 18 (FIGS. 1 and 3A) and extending in the horizontal plane perpendicular to the respective longitudinal axis of the roller in the direction of the transport path. The self-aligning bearings 3, 4, which may be of any conventional type permitting the pivotal movement described, can as seen in FIGS. 3A and 3B comprise an inner race 19 mounted on the axle portion 16 or 17 and received within the outer race 20. The raceway 21 of the latter is a spheroidal surface centered on the intersection between the pivotal axis 18 and the longitudinal u axis of the respective roller and is rollingly engageable by a pair of circumferential arrays of rollers 22, 23. The rollers 22 and 23 of each array are of generally parallel-shaped configuration with curvatures corresponding to that of the raceway 21 and have respective axes which converge toward the longitudinal axis of the roller in opposite axial directions so as to define the generatrices of a double-apex cone. The inner raceways 24, 25 are of corresponding spheroidal curvature. Thus when the longitudinal axis of the roller is swung (FIG. 3B) about the pivotal axis 18, the self-aligning bearing permits such swinging movement while maintaining its journaling action. The bearings 4 on opposite ends of adjacent rollers 1 and 2 are fixedly positioned on the pedestals 26 and 27 while the bearing 3 at the other extremity of each roller 1 and 2 is vertically shiftable by a hydraulic pistonand-cylinder arrangement 5. When the cylinders 5 are energized with hydraulic fluid from a common source S and S which actuate the hydraulic devices of each array in parallel, the respective bearings 3 are raised to bring the upper surfaces of the rollers 1 and 2 into the positions indicated by dot-dash lines 1 and 2' (FIG. 2) so that a plate-like workpiece 30 is supported at its opposite edges. Stops 5', 5 define the upper and lower positions of the hydraulic arrangements 5.

Each of the rollers 1 and 2 has its corresponding axle portion 17 at the vertically fixed bearing 4, fitted with a universal joint 6 by means of which power can be transmitted from a shaft 7 to the respective roller 1 or 2 in either position (i.e. horizontal or inclined) on the respective roller. When the rollers 1 and 2 are driven in the identical sense, say, clockwise viewing the array of FIG. 1 from the right, the plate 30 will be advanced in the direction of arrow 31 while a reversed rotation of all of the rollers will displace the plate-like workpiece in the opposite direction (arrow 32). When, however, the rollers 1 of one array are driven in the clockwise direction and the rollers 2 0f the other array are driven in the counterclockwise sense in the elevated positions of the respective bearings 3 and 4, the left-hand edge of the workpiece 30 will be displaced in the direction of arrow 31 while the right-hand edge is shifted in the direction of arrow 32 to swing the plate about a vertical axis as represented by arrow 33.

In FIGS. 46, we show suitable drive systems for the transport device of FIGS. 1-3, 3A and 3B. Thus, in FIG. 4, each of the shafts 7 is provided with a respective universal joint 7 remote from its universal joint 6 and is driven by a respective motor 10, the motors 10 being connected to a control 35 having three positions corresponding to energization of the motors 10 to drive all of the rollers in the forward sense (forward position), all of the rollers in the opposite sense (reverse position) or one of the arrays in one sense and the other array in the opposite sense to rotate the plate-like workpiece (rotate position) as previously described. In this arrangement, it will be seen that the couplings 6 are all provided in one side of the transport path so that the axle portion 17 alternately extends through bearings 3 and 4 of the successive rollers. In the arrangement of FIG. 5, a single drive 8, 9 is provided for each of the arrays of rollers 1 and 2 and is coupled with them via a mechanical transmission 3' and 9 constituted by a respective gear train. The outputs 8", 9 assigned to each of the respective rollers are universally coupled to the respective drive shaft 7. In the arrangement of FIG. 6, the linkage shafts 7 are omitted and the motors 11, which can be operated by the control 35, are attached to the outer races 20 of the bearings 3 and 4 along the righthand side of the system for driving the respective rollers 1 and 2. The armatures of these motors can be keyed to the respective axle portions in the usual manner for flanged motors.

The invention described and illustrated is believed to admit of many modifications within the ability of persons skilled in the art, all such modifications being considered within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

We claim:

1. A transport system for rolling mills and the like, comprising a plurality of spaced-apart generally parallel longitudinally extending rollers having respective longitudinal axes of rotation; means at one end of some of said rollers and at the other end of others of said rollers for supporting the respective rollers for swinging movement about respective pivotal axes perpendicular to the respective longitudinal axis at said ends; actuating means for swinging said rollers about said pivotal axes between a first position wherein the longitudinal axes of said rollers lie in a plane and a second position wherein the longitudinal axes of said rollers are inclined to said planes; and drive means coupled with said rollers for selectively rotating same about said longitudinal axes in the same and opposite senses.

2. A transport system as defined in claim 1 wherein each of said rollers is provided with a pair of journaled extremities, each of said extremities being mounted in a respective self-aligning bearing, one of the self-aligning bearings of each roller being vertically fixed and the other self-aligning bearing of each roller being vertically shiftable, said actuating means including respective elevating means for the vertically shiftable self-aligning bearings of said some of said rollers and for the self-aligning bearings of said others of said rollers.

3. A transport system as defined in claim 2 wherein said elevating means includes a hydraulic piston-andcylinder arrangement assigned to each of said rollers and acting on the vertically shiftable self-aligning bearing thereof.

4. A transport system as defined in claim 3 wherein said some of said rollers form a first roller array and said others of said rollers form a second roller array interleaved with said first roller array, the hydraulic pistonand-cylinder arrangements of each of said arrays being coupled for joint operation.

5. A transport system as defined in claim 3 wherein said drive means includes a drive shaft assigned to each of said motors and a universal joint coupling the respective roller with the respective drive shaft.

6. A transport system as defined in claim 5 wherein each of said drive shafts is provided with a respective motor, further comprising control means for operating the motors of each array in the same sense.

7. A transport system as defined in claim 5- wherein said drive means includes a respective source of motive power assigned to each array and mechanical transmission means coupling said shaft of said rollers to each array jointly with the respective source of motive power.

8. A transport system as defined in claim 5 wherein said drive shafts form a linkage between respective power shafts and one of the extremities of the respective rollers and are universally coupled to the respective power shaft.

9. A transport system as defined in claim 5 wherein 6 respective rollers mounted in the respective vertically fixed bearing.

10. A transport system as defined in claim 5 wherein said rollers are generally cylindrical and the rollers of each array are rotatable in common in the same sense but in a sense opposite that with which the rollers of the other array are rotated for swinging a plate-like workpiece on said rollers about a generally vertical axis.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,114,621 10/1914 Lewis 19833 said drive shafts are coupled with the extremities of the 15 E W Primary Examiner- 

1. A TRANSPORT SYSTEM FOR ROLLING MILLS AND THE LIKE, COMPRISING A PLURALITY OF SPACED-APART GENERALLY PARALLEL LONGITUDINALLY EXTENDING ROLLERS HAVING RESPECTIVE LONGITUDINAL AXES OF ROTATION; MEANS AT ONE END OF SOME OF SAID ROLLERS AND AT THE OTHER END OF OTHERS OF SAID ROLLERS FOR SUPPORTING THE RESPECTIVE ROLLERS FOR SWINGING MOVEMENT ABOUT RESPECTIVE PIVOTAL AXES PERPENDICULAR TO THE RESPECTIVE LONGITUDINAL AXIS AT SAID ENDS; ACTUATING MEANS FOR SWINGING SAID ROLLERS ABOUT SAID PIVOTAL AXES BETWEEN 